MSI N260GTX-T2D896 OC V3 Review

Introduction:

The GTX 260 216SP video cards have been out for quite a while now. With that passage of time comes the realization that the old workhorse needs a little pep to keep delivering the same performance as games continue to evolve and demand more and more processing power. Offering factory overclocked cards is one way of giving a refresh to a tried and true performer. Some manufacturers just give a small bump to the GPU core and call it the OC model and leave it at that. Others take a few steps further with improvements on all the clock speeds and a marginally better cooling solution, and yet a few go whole hog and slap on a massive heatsink along with much higher clock speeds. MSI is one of those companies.

The N260GTX OC V3 is just one of the overclocked versions that MSI has to offer. It features an increase in clock speeds on the shader processors cores the GPU core and the GDDR3 memory to boost performance as well as a massive heatsink that contains 5 heatpipes and dual fans to make sure that heat will not be an issue during an all-night frag fest. There have been plenty of overclocked cards that have landed on the OCC test bench, so let's see what this model from MSI can do and see if it will prove worthy of your hard earned dollars.

Closer Look:

The outer packaging of the card shows an ogre ready for battle on a dark green background. The amount of cores is prominently displayed to make sure there is no confusion as to how many this card uses. The fact that this is an overclocked edition is shown in the bottom right-hand corner. Additional features such as the dual fans 896MB of GDDR3 memory and the fact that this is indeed part of MSI's gaming series, are items to note. The back panel lists additional features such as support for Cuda, Physx and Pure Video HD technologies. Company contact information is on the bottom right with fetures being listed in many languages since MSI is indeed a global brand. The definition of the Mazarine DVI port is explained on the rear as well. One feature not seen on many cards is the handle so you don't drop this card on the way to the counter.

Once you open up the package and pull out the internals you can see that the card is enclosed in an anti-static bag in a bubble wrapped bag in a form fitting open cell foam enclosure. Considering the weight of this card's cooling solution, it is packed well. Under the N260GTX OC V3 is where all the accessories are stored and looks to be a pretty substantial bundle.

The bundle that comes with the N260GTX is pretty substantial and should cover just about any connectivity need you have, although an HDMI cable is not supplied. What you get are the manual, quick start guide, driver disk, DVI to D-Sub and HDMI adapters, an RCA adapter, S-Video cable and S-Video to component dongle and an SPDIF interconnect cable. One thing missing is the traditional power adapter to make sure that as long as your PSU had at least one 6 pin power connector, you were covered. I'm guessing the assumption is that those that buy this card will have a more than capable power supply.

The packaging and bundle look to be up to scratch, so let's looks at the N260GTX OC V3.